The subject invention relates to facings for faced building insulation assemblies, such as but not limited to those commonly used to insulate homes and other residential building structures; offices, stores, and other commercial building structures; and industrial building structures, and to the faced building insulation assemblies faced with such facings. The spunbond continuous polymeric filament mat facings of the subject invention, as applied to the insulation layers of the faced insulation assemblies of the subject invention, are designed to exhibit enhanced water vapor permeance characteristics for various applications. The spunbond continuous polymeric filament mat facings of the subject invention also exhibit enhanced handling characteristics, abrasion resistance, good dimensional stability, non-raveling edges, and excellent strength characteristics. The spunbond continuous polymeric filament mat facings of the subject invention also exhibit other improved performance characteristics, such as but not limited to improved moisture, rot and fungi growth resistance; improved sunlight resistance; improved temperature resistance; reduced flammability; reduced combustion toxicity; and improved functionality to improve installer productivity.
Building insulation assemblies currently used to insulate buildings, especially fiberglass building insulations, are commonly faced with kraft paper facings, such as 30-40 lbs/3MSF (30 to 40 pounds/3000 square feet) natural kraft paper. In addition,
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,733,624; 5,746,854; 6,191,057; and 6,357,504 disclose examples of polymeric facings for use in faced building insulation assemblies and US patent application Nos. US 2002/0179265 A1; US 2002/0182964 A1; and US 2002/0182965 A1 disclose examples of polymeric-kraft laminates for use in faced building insulation assemblies.
While building insulation assemblies faced with such kraft paper facings function quite well, have been used for decades, and the patents listed above disclose kraft paper facing materials as well as alternative facing materials, there has remained a need for facings with improved performance characteristics. The improved spunbond continuous polymeric filament mat facings of the subject invention and the building insulation assemblies faced with the improved facings of the subject invention provide faced insulation assemblies that can be custom designed to exhibit enhanced water vapor permeance characteristics for different applications such as but not limited to hot humid conditions. The facings of the subject invention also exhibit enhanced handling characteristics, enhanced abrasion resistance, good dimensional stability, non-raveling edges so that the facings can be easily cut without having to bind the edges, and excellent strength characteristics. The facings of the subject invention also exhibit improved moisture, rot and fungi growth resistance. A preferred sheet material for the facings of the subject invention is a spunbond continuous 100% polyester filament mat. Such mats typically exhibit only a 0.5% moisture pickup at 98% relative humidity; maintain their physical properties when wet; and are dimensionally stable even when subjected to changes in humidity. Such mats resist sunlight degradation and exhibit improved temperature resistance that permits the mats to be processed at temperatures up to 350° F. (177° C.). Such mats are difficult to ignite with a small ignition source and when exposed to a small flame, the mats tend to melt and shrink away from the heat long before the mats reach their ignition temperature. When completely combusted such mats decompose into water and carbon dioxide. If combustion is incomplete, some carbon monoxide may be released along with a variety of low toxicity organic compounds. The facings of the subject invention may also exhibit improved pest control characteristics, and/or enable improved installer productivity or other cost savings.